Drolet NG1800 airflow/draft issue

[OHWoodburner7]

Hello everyone, new here, and trying to figure out some issues with a stove I installed last season.

Little background, I heat solely with wood, about a 12-1300sf house. The house came with a old small Cemi woodstove, and I used that for the past 4 yrs. It worked well, but has a small 16" firebox, and did not have long burntimes.

Last winter, I found a nice used NG1800 stove, (from what I can find online, it's an early Drolet Austral?), and installed it in the house, and installed the Cemi in the garage for heat out there. (Perfect garage stove).

Overall, I really like the Drolet. Nice big firebox that can fit 20" logs, lasts all night or all day on a load, a window to see the fire..

However, it seems to have an airflow or draft issue that I can't figure out. Fires take a while to get started, and I have to have the door cracked for 20-30min or else it will smolder down even with airflow all the way open. (house will sometimes fill w/smoke)

The 2nd issue is reloading. I'll crack the door for a minute, airflow all the way open, have the door open for maybe 10sec to throw some logs in, and the room is now full of smoke.

The stove will typically not get above 400* unless the door is cracked, even with airflow all the way open.

Any ideas on what the issue could be? It's the same chimney and pipe setup that I used with the old stove, minus one 45* bend. I clean it annually. I use the same wood in both stoves. I only see one airflow control on this new stove. It has 2 baffles up top, that don't look clogged..



The old stove you can hear it sucking in air when it's really going, never had issues with smoke flowing back into the room.
The new stove just feels like it's choking itself sometimes.

Thanks in advance for any advice, I attached some pictures and can get more if needed.

 

[begreen]

Yes, that looks like the original Austral but the glass says Aspen. Wierd. Is there a bypass damper on the side of the stove? That might just be on the Legend and Baltic version of this stove. The Austral was the most basic, unshielded version of this series.

There looks like a lot of buildup in the stove indicating a cool burn. How well seasoned is the firewood?

What is the stove venting into? Is there a 6" liner in the chimney? If not, what are the clay liner inside dimensions and how tall is it? Were the chimney and cap cleaned recently?

 

[stoveliker]

And how tall is your chimney from stove top to chimney cap?

(Second: it is unlikely that code allows you to put a wood stove in a garage - if there is gasoline there.)

 

[begreen]

The Cemi was a much less restrictive stove. It would probably burn almost any wood that wasn't soaking wet. Modern stoves need dryer wood. Try loading some 2x4 scraps in with the current wood to see if that improves behavior.

Connecting the stove with a pair of 45s will be less restrictive than the one 90º elbow.

 

[stoveliker]

Exactly.
What I see in the firebox is problematic (for a tube stove).

 

[Trevor Tahclep]

There is a god awful load of glossy creosote in that stove, not good, obviously being operated too low, choked and/or restricted.

- How dry is your firewood ? Do not trust most firewood sellers claiming they have seasoned wood ! A freshly split open face should be below 20% moisture content on your moisture meter.
- Has your chimney pipe and chimney been cleaned and inspected in the last year by a competent chimney sweep or tech., there could be some restriction, this needs to be done at least once per year.
- Is your chimney properly sized diameter, length and adequate for this particular stove.
- Have you tried burning a few pressed sawdust logs from any big box store to see what happens versus your firewood.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

I agree with most of the status stuff above it sounds like the wood that your previous stove would happily munch on it's just not working in this setup. Make sure you measure it as specified above taking measurements on cold or not fresh splits parallel with the grain will give false readings. I'm actually thinking about putting together a quick post for people to refer to with a video on how to take these measurements.

 

[stoveliker]

Good idea
Start a new thread and ask Begreen to pin it. (Or ask Begreen to make a post with visual demo of how to do this.)
We have to explain it a lot and being able to point to a post with video would be useful imo

 

[begreen]

There is a boatload of moisture meter videos on YouTube. At least half are poor. This one by Lopi isn't bad but it is with a different style meter than the direct readout style many use.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[stoveliker]

And that one is bad too, pins perpendicular to the grain.
Your post supports point that a fixed proper instructions would be useful...

 

[begreen]

Often one can tell if the wood is seasoned without a meter either by putting the freshly exposed face of the wood (after re-splitting) up against your cheek. If it's cool and damp put it back on the pile for more seasoning. And one can test by sound sometime, as shown in this video.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[all night moe]

Include the thud sound and the sound of bowling pins.

Measuring moisture with a meter is the most overly explained topic here.

Edit: @begreen we posted at the same time.

 

[begreen]

And that one is bad too, pins perpendicular to the grain.
Your post supports point that a fixed proper instructions would be useful...

Yeah, I saw that, but at least it had the steps right. It might be a percent different with the other orientation but in the ballpark.
Here's another one properly done.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[OHWoodburner7]

Yeah I'm not sure why the glass says Aspen, maybe replaced or sold under a different name to certain stores?
No bypass damper on the side, just one air control at the bottom.

The firewood is pretty well seasoned, mostly 15-20%, downed trees I cut and split the year before. I do mostly smaller fires this time of year and choke it down at night, maybe the reason for buildup. I cleaned the pipes at the end of last season, but the problem was before that and didn't seem to make a difference.

Yes Begreen, the Cemi does pretty much eat anything with a good bed of coals. The Drolet does seem to be more picky on the wood. I'll try burning the driest stuff I have, maybe some 2x4s and see what that does.

The chimney has a clay liner, two holes at the top. Not sure what the other hole does.. And a cleanout hole near the bottom which is open.
Liner is 11"x7". From stovetop to chimney cap is 12'.
6" pipe from stove to liner, 6" chimney cap pipe on top. I have not had a company look at it, I use a whip attachement on a drill which works pretty good.

Thanks for the replies, I attached pics of chimney setup and wood split

 

[stoveliker]

Sure, for folks with experience.
It's for folks starting out that something that is NOT subjective would be useful.
Whether sound is one way or another, whether something feels damp or not - it may all be clear to you as you've heard and felt that 100s of times. When one doesn't have a reference frame, all that won't be useful.
Numbers are. If gotten in an appropriate way.

That is precisely the reason why time after time people think (based on whatever reference frame they have...) they have dry wood when measuring it tells them they don't.

 

[stoveliker]

Include the thud sound and the sound of bowling pins.

Measuring moisture with a meter is the most overly explained topic here.

Edit: @begreen we posted at the same time.

Sure, for folks with experience.

It's for folks starting out that something that is NOT subjective would be useful.

Whether sound is one way or another, whether something feels damp or not - it may all be clear to you as you've heard and felt that 100s of times. When one doesn't have a reference frame, all that won't be useful.

Numbers are. If gotten in an appropriate way.



That is precisely the reason why time after time people think (based on whatever reference frame they have...) they have dry wood when measuring it tells them they don't.

 

[stoveliker]

Yeah, I saw that, but at least it had the steps right. It might be a percent different with the other orientation but in the ballpark.
Here's another one properly done.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Then pin this one to have a standard reference with visual explanation - is what we think is useful.

 

[begreen]

I burned for years without a meter by just sound, weight and the cheek test. I finally got a meter here to see how fast Doug Fir dried after being told it couldn't dry to below 20% from green in 6 months. It can in our dry summers.

 

[stoveliker]

I burned for years without a meter by just sound, weight and the cheek test. I finally got a meter here to see how fast Doug Fir dried after being told it couldn't dry to below 20% from green in 6 months. It can in our dry summers.

Yes, but was that reliable when you FIRST started burning?
Remember your experience guides you. That's what subjectivity means.
For first season folks this is invariably the problem they run into.


Did you even start burning with a stove that required dry wood? If you started your burning decades ago with a preEPA stove you can't compare what you did, and through what steps you learned, with current starters.

I'll stop to detail this thread. Evidently pointing to non-existing experience (how would they know if something feels wet or not if they've never had the incentive to feel how splits feel... Cold or not is far too subjective )to determine what's wet is good educational value....🤔
That's disappointing and not helpful.

Have a good evening.

 

[begreen]

Both work. It's good to know how to test when one doesn't have a meter or the battery is dead.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

Yeah I'm not sure why the glass says Aspen, maybe replaced or sold under a different name to certain stores?
No bypass damper on the side, just one air control at the bottom.

The firewood is pretty well seasoned, mostly 15-20%, downed trees I cut and split the year before. I do mostly smaller fires this time of year and choke it down at night, maybe the reason for buildup. I cleaned the pipes at the end of last season, but the problem was before that and didn't seem to make a difference.

Yes Begreen, the Cemi does pretty much eat anything with a good bed of coals. The Drolet does seem to be more picky on the wood. I'll try burning the driest stuff I have, maybe some 2x4s and see what that does.

The chimney has a clay liner, two holes at the top. Not sure what the other hole does.. And a cleanout hole near the bottom which is open.
Liner is 11"x7". From stovetop to chimney cap is 12'.
6" pipe from stove to liner, 6" chimney cap pipe on top. I have not had a company look at it, I use a whip attachement on a drill which works pretty good.

Thanks for the replies, I attached pics of chimney setup and wood split

View attachment 332141View attachment 332142View attachment 332143View attachment 332144View attachment 332145

Your meter needs to be parallel with the grain and on a fresh split that has been inside for a day. You also need to jam the pins in deep.

 

[Trevor Tahclep]

OHWoodburner7, that has to be at least a 8'' x 12'' at minimum clay tile chimney flue surrounded by cold brick and cold air, your Drolet has a 6’’ exhaust, after looking at that blackened chimney top below the 6 inch pipe and cap I really suspect you cannot get that chimney flue sufficiently hot to create a good strong draft. Why do I know, I lived through the same situation back in the early 80’s, a insulated 6’’ stainless liner would probably resolve your problems. Sorry to say that chimney top is really nasty, have you tried this stove without that 6 inch pipe and cap to see what happens ?​

 

[MRD1985]

As previously stated check the MC on a fresh split fade parallel with the grain. That is the true reading.

The flue temps are too cool by the look of the creosote buildup in the stove and the top of the flue. That is probably part of the reason it’s drafting poorly.